Underwhelming first half for defending champs

The national championship hangover has been real.

The Brandon University Bobcats rode a wave of energy and upset three nationally ranked teams on home court to win their first-ever U Sports men’s volleyball title in March.

Nine months later, they’ve only won three regular-season matches and sit outside the Canada West playoff picture, even though 10 of 13 teams qualify.

BU (3-7) heads into the break on a five-match losing skid, including dropping its last four to Manitoba and UBC Okanagan at home.

“From a results standpoint, it was far from ideal. We’d like to have a few more wins in our pocket,” said head coach Grant Wilson.

“We knew there was going to be some growing pains with so many different faces in the lineup … trying to find some consistency in our game. We showed flashes of being really, really good, we showed flashes of struggling, and those inconsistencies led to our end results.”

“In a perfect world, I felt like we had really good chances to win the first night, both against Manitoba and UBCO and let some opportunities slip away,” Wilson added.

“That’s what happens when you play really good teams. If you don’t take care of business, they will.”

BUSY START

The Bobcats looked solid and showcased their depth at their home tournament in late September, beating the Winnipeg Wesmen, Saskatchewan Huskies, and Bisons in the preliminary round before falling to Manitoba in the final.

They represented Canada at the NORCECA Final Six tournament in Puerto Rico in October, playing a match a day for a week and finishing fifth, with their only two victories coming against Suriname.

Brandon headed straight to UBC to start the regular season against the No. 1 team in the country. The Thunderbirds, who eliminated the Bobcats from the conference playoffs last season, dominated for six straight sets.

Brandon rebounded with a weekend sweep of Mount Royal, then split Saskatchewan on the road to start the losing skid.

“We have an uphill road for sure to try to get into the playoffs, but with that said, our destiny is still in our own hands right now,” Wilson said.

NEW LINEUP

The biggest difference for BU was always going to be at setter, with JJ Love turning pro and leaving the offence in Kale Fisher’s hands.

The third-year from Edmonton is currently sixth in Canada West with 9.36 assists per set, while BU is hitting .263, good for sixth in the league.

Wilson said Fisher showed flashes of good, but also struggled in a few areas.

“Kale developed quite a bit over the course of the term, and I felt like he had more trust in his teammates by the end of the term,” Wilson said. “That’s something he still has to continue to earn in practice and in game. Hopefully, he can continue to increase his level of play, physically and mentally and that will hopefully help us out.”

Fisher has the benefit of two elite outside hitters in seniors Tom Friesen and Liam Pauls, who sit tied for fourth and sixth, respectively, with 18 and 15 aces.

Friesen is fifth with 3.51 kills per set, with Pauls at 2.84, as the two account for about two-thirds of BU’s offence.

“They’re arguably our two best players and we need them to be our two best players night in and night out,” Wilson said.

“The nights they were both really good were nights we were successful. If there were nights one or both of them struggled, we struggled as a team.”

Across the court, Liam Kindle has settled in as the starting opposite. He played two of his best matches down the stretch, including a 15-kill, five-error night against Manitoba, adding 14 kills and six errors against UBCO in a tough five-set loss to close the semester.

All three attackers have multiple depth pieces pushing them for playing time.

The same isn’t necessarily the case in the middle, where Riley Brunet and Matthew Siebenga have as long a leash as anyone on the team.

They’re the two most efficient attackers on the team, with Siebenga at .400 and Brunet at .368.

But while the Bobcats are usually one of the elite blocking teams, they average just 1.85 blocks per set, ninth in the conference.

“The whole read blocking thing has not been as good as perhaps we might like, but once again … those guys are closing to the pin with somebody the size of Kale versus somebody the size of JJ, and that changes how teams come at you,” Wilson said.

“Our third middle, Josh Budach, has improved immensely in training, and there have been days where he has pushed them. We need Josh to continue to get better to push them, and we need those two guys to push each other.

“They both still have another level to get to for sure.”

BU went into the year with two rookie liberos, Cooper Bevan and Kingston Thomas.

For the most part, Bevan has worn the alternate jersey while Thomas has been off the active roster.

The Australian is 13th in Canada West with 1.59 digs per set.

“He’s been very stable and a good receiver. He is a 100 per cent leader and floor general … I’m not sure I’ve seen a guy take the floor like he has at that age,” Wilson said.

“He is very mature that way and is very loved by his teammates and the coaching staff.”

MOVING FORWARD

The Bobcats return to action on the first weekend of the new year with an exhibition tournament at the U of S.

Then they visit the Fraser Valley Cascades (0-10) on Jan. 9-10 before welcoming the Trinity Western Spartans (8-2) to the Healthy Living Centre the following weekend.

They have a bye, then visit the MacEwan Griffins (0-10), host the Alberta Golden Bears (8-2) on Feb. 6-7.

The season finale is at Winnipeg (4-6) on Feb. 13-14.

The Bobcats don’t see two of the three teams immediately above them in the standings but have two road weekends against winless opponents that they must take care of to set themselves up for a playoff run.

Their two home weekends are against the two toughest opponents left on their slate.

“Our team is learning,” Wilson said. “We’re getting better, now it’s a matter of finding some level of consistency.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com